For as long as I have played sports sims with "Fantasy Leagues" I have had a desire to create a true fantasy league, one in which the world is populated by dwarves, elves, and orcs. Upon realizing that I could create players in this game ranging in height from mere inches to 11 foot tall goliaths I decided that it was finally time for me to implement my idea.

So I welcome you to join me in the northern reaches of the land of Hernigsah, through the formative years of the upstart Dragonheart Hockey League (DHL). A hockey league where dwarf, man, and orc face off in brutal but friendly competition as each team tries to bring home the 3 Kings Cup as league champion.

To make things a little more interactive I wanted to create a way for you guys to have players in the game as well. Fill out this little bit of info below and I will add your player periodically into league history. Most likely I will just make each first overall draft pick a submission that way there is a much higher likelihood of your player achieving success.

Name: Human and Dwarf names are as expected. All Orcs native to this land traditionally give their young a human name and an Orcish name (ie, Oscar Womkug), see World History section below for explanation.Race: Human, Dwarf, OrcishHeight (inches): Human 67-79, Dwarf 48-59, Orcish 87-99Weight (pounds): Human and Dwarf 150-250, Orcish 200-300Position: Be as specific or general as you wantPreferred Number: Go crazyFavored Attributes: Pick two attributes from the sim and I will give your player a little boost.

The Land of Hernigsah is not unlike many other fantasy realms you may have crossed in the past. Long ago there were dragons, wars between races, and adventurers scouring the countryside in search of fame and fortune.

All the races seemed to hate each other and isolate themselves whenever possible, but there was no group more universally hated than the orcs. And it all came down to food. Humans developed an agricultural system that allowed them to settle down and create cities. Elves sustain themselves off very little, and dwarfs eat mostly mushrooms and meats that they can find abundantly in and around their mountain homes. Orcs however were constantly at war with other species, specifically humans, to commandeer their food supplies and remain the apex predators in their mind.

Then everything changed when the a group of orc sympathizers took the old "give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for his life" proverb to heart and set out to teach the orcs how to farm and grow their own crops. This led to a boom in the orc population as for the first time in history they were able to settle and create their own communities. And for a short period it looked as though Hernigsah may be about to enter a Golden Age of peace. But racist bigotries could not be held back and the generation who saw orcs as a growing threat took preemptive strikes against them and began to attack and destroy Orcish communities.

The elves and many humans banded together in an alliance in a great war that killed many orcs and human sympathizers until the majority of surviving orcs fled north to the Pinst Mountains. The allied humans and elves felt that the native dwarfs of the region would finish the job for them and kill of the remaining orcs, but the Pinst Dwarfs were a surprisingly accepting people and did not feel threatened by their new neighbors. Orcs and man settled in the foothills of the Pinst Mountains and now many generations later we can safely say that we have finally reached the era of peace at long last.

Before the arrival of the orcs and their human allies there were native humans in the areas around the Pinst Mountains. While they were not as aggressive as southern men were against the orcs there was some bias there and this group was quick to distance themselves from their newfound neighbors. But the men who came to Pinst with the orcs were accepting of them and the two groups began to intermarry and reproduce until they effectively became their own mixed group. This new group of half-orcs began to name their young without surnames but with one human name and one orcish name to celebrate the two groups having come together as one people.

The Pinst Mountains have been the ancestral seat of the dwarfs for millennia. As long as there have been dwarfs in Hernigsah there have been dwarfs in the Pinst Mountains. As the dwarven population grew the dwarfs buried deeper and deeper toward the middle of the mountain homes. Sometimes they would hit underground water tunnels and cause leaks in the chasms and the frigid air in the mountain would freeze the standing water. It did not take the dwarfs long to learn the best way to move across the ice were to create ice skates and it became a part of the Pinst dwarfs culture to learn how to ice skate from a young age. Obviously hockey came not to long after and the game quickly became dwarfs favorite recreational activity.

300 years ago King Balin created the first ever organized hockey event. A semi annual event was held between the three dwarven kingdoms of the Pinst Mountains. The winner of the round robin event would be rewarded with the 3 Kings Trophy, crafted by Balin himself. After Balin passed the tournament lost steam and was only played sparingly until being completely forgotten about. Though hockey remains as popular among dwarfs as ever and they were quick to teach the game to the orcs who cared to learn.

The physicality of the sport quickly enamored it within the orcish people and before long the orcs were able to compete with their dwarven counterparts. The native Pinst humans have been playing hockey for several decades as well, but it was the southern humans who had the idea to start keeping track of statistics and attempted to form the first ever official hockey league.

A coalition of dwarfs, orcs, and humans came together and a group of six leaders (3 dwarfs, 2 humans, and 1 orc) were chosen to create their own team and to recruit talent for the original six teams of the newly formed Dragonheart Hockey League. For the first time ever members of the three separate species would be playing hockey alongside each other as teammates. For hockey fans in Hernigsah it truly is a special time to be alive.

I have to give credit for the artistic abilities of the good people over at IceHL for providing some great jersey mods and logos that I was able to commandeer to give my league a more official look than the auto-generated shulack.

It took two full nights, but I finally have updated all the opening day rosters with names, races, and weight/height changes. I'll post a preview for the inaugural season tonight as well as some notes about how the teams shaped up.

With the Dragonheart Hockey League season about to get underway, the 3 Kings Cup favorites appear to be the Balin Hold Raiders, led by the 28 year old dwarven defenceman Bhalmek Thuldrun. The Raiders will be the team to beat this year, but they can expect challenges from the Iron Hill Bruisers and Viktor Brokil's Red Hawk Flyers.

Among the darkhorses, the Shurkul Ice Wolves stand out as a possible challenger, if Bergrom Grilkohm can have a big year he might push his team into contention.

The scoring race will likely see the 31 year old dwarf, Grilkohm challenged by Raider Nathan Burke and the orcish Jesse Lorbumol of the Carren Keep Blades.

The top defenseman is generally considered to be Thuldrun, with Bunrum Dolnom of Iron Hill and the Newham Frozen Fury captain Melvin Griffith also in the running.

And in new the Shurkul Ice Dogs appear to have a distinct advantage with arguably the two best goalies in the league in 8'1 Ray Glush and 4'5 Gerdus Kharnar, while the Flyers' Grilgus Thardrom can also steal games for his team.

Thuldrun may very well be the best player in the league. A skilled skater who can do a lot of everything and is probably the best pure defender in the league, while still a top option for the powerplay. Balin Hold runs a 1-3-1 power play system, so expect to see a lot of points from this all-star. He also serves as an alternate captain for his squad.

A pure scorer, Lorbumol, is not afraid, and is even well equipped to set up his teammates, but this speedy center loves to get open and bury a chance with his shot. He is also the best player in the league at getting open, but all the skill in the world is not going to help this franchise player if he does not get the start as the number 1 center on the team. Right now he is slated as the 3C, but that should change quickly otherwise his scoring crown dreams might have to be put on hold.

If you are running a team Nathan Burke is the type of player you want on your wings. Able to play both sides without hesitation and one of the best defensive minded players in the league. With most of the top guys in the league being highly skilled orcs and dwarfs, Burke does a good job of reminding us that humans can be great hockey players too. He can play alongside just about anyone, which is good because outside of their studded defense the Bruisers don't seem to have much of anyone on their team.

Melvin Griffith is not quite the defender that Thuldrun is, but he is still an incredibly gifted skater and the fastest player in the league. He can do all the things you would ask of a number one defender and he will handle the responsibility. I do think it speaks to Newham's team that a man with a 13 in Leadership is their captain, but he is still a fine choice and a great hockey player. However, when all is said and done people will look at Griffith as a benchmark to understand just how good Thuldrun is.

Brokil is an orc who plays exactly how you would expect an orc to. He has a 7'10 frame that he uses in front of the net to screen the goalie and in the corner to win pucks. A very strong defender, and an very well put together player mentally. Maybe it is that he plays for the Flyers but I can't help but think of him as the DHL's Wayne Simmonds.

Our final player highlight will be for the Ice Wolves' star center. At 4'9 Grilkohm is a tall dwarf, but it isn't his stature that makes him a great player. Arguably the league's best overall skater Grilkohm does not have the top end speed, but his quickness and agility coupled with his puck handling make him impossible to take off of the puck. A pass first center, players will be lucky to play alongside this skilled dwarf, who I think might be the best offensive player in the league. He is on the fast track to the league MVP if he can help sneak Shurkul into the playoffs.

Each team is based in one of the biggest population hubs in the region. Balin's Hold, Carren Keep, and Iron Hill are the capitals of the three Dwarf Kingdoms. Shurkul is the largest orc settlement in the area, while Red Hawk is the oldest none dwarf city in the region. Newham is the newest city, a bastion of human tradition that was created after orcs moved to the region.

Each team is owned by a member of the ruling race of their city. Newham and Red Hawk being human, Shurkul being orcish, and the other three dwarven. However the general managers, head coaches, and players of each area did not necessarily line up so cleanly.

Dwarfs maake up the majority of GM's, unsurprising considering that dwarves know hockey the best out of all the races and wold likely be considered the most qualified to put together a program. The Shurkul Ice Wolves and Red Hawk Flyers went out and recruited dwarfs to head up their programs, while Carren Keep and Balin's Hold gave the GM position to longtime residents. Newham stayed within their comfort zone and hired a human, while the Iron Hill Bruisers also picked a human to run their organization.

On the coaching front it was humans who took the bulk of the positions. Only the Carren Keep Bruisers did not choose a human head coach, instead opting for orc, Eugene Alog. These hirings made Carren Keep the most diverse front office with representation from all three races, while Newham showed their true colors keeping things all human. The other 4 teams had a healthy mix.

Newham's preference for humans did not stop at their front office either. On the ice the Frozen Fury sport a roster of no less than a dozen humans, including their captain and both alternates. I pity the orc and dwarf who signed contracts to play with this team.

Surprisingly Newham is not the most human team however. That designation goes to Iron Hill who have 13 actives on their roster who are neither orc nor dwarf. However, these seems to be far less about quotas and more about actual skillset than the Newham team who might very well have sacrificed skill for comfort.

This is all I have for tonight. If anyone has any questions about any of the teams, players, whatever feel free to ask and I will let you know. From here on out I will be trying to do a quick sim and mostly just give end of season highlights and breakdowns as we try to build as much history as possible in this league.

It should be a good time. And don't forget you can add your very own player to the league by filling out the form in this post!

Would love to see some stats of how the seasons going are you still doing this sim? If you are still or have the files still I would love to see how things go. I wanted to do some experiemnts to see how size is or is not impacted in this sim engine as I never was sure if it was taken into consideration or not. thanks1

This is all I have for tonight. If anyone has any questions about any of the teams, players, whatever feel free to ask and I will let you know. From here on out I will be trying to do a quick sim and mostly just give end of season highlights and breakdowns as we try to build as much history as possible in this league.

It should be a good time. And don't forget you can add your very own player to the league by filling out the form in this post!

Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Minor League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with the permission of Minor League Baseball. All rights reserved.

The Major League Baseball Players Association (www.MLBPLAYERS.com ) is the collective bargaining representative for all professional baseball players of the thirty Major League Baseball teams and serves as the exclusive group licensing agent for commercial and licensing activities involving active Major League baseball players. On behalf of its members, it operates the Players Choice licensing program and the Players Choice Awards, which benefit the needy through the Major League Baseball Players Trust, a charitable foundation established and run entirely by Major League baseball players. Follow: @MLB_Players; @MLBPAClubhouse; @MLBPlayersTrust

Out of the Park Baseball is a registered trademark of Out of the Park Developments GmbH & Co. KG

Google Play is a trademark of Google Inc.

Apple, iPhone, iPod touch and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.